As an interesting start to Yom Kippur this year, I thought I would attend the kaparot in Mea She'arim. For those who don't know, kaparot entails circling a live chicken above you head as a receptacle for your sins, then donating that chicken to the poor for their pre-fast dinner. For some reason I imagined the proceedings to look something like a cross between an ultra-orthodox synagogue and an exploding pillow factory, but it was surprisingly humane and sanitary (as humane and sanitary as such an activity can be). The proprietors of the stands wore gloves, and most participants were very gentle with the birds while they filled them with evil. Even the chickens were calm, sitting quietly atop their crate once the spinning was spun. Rina and I simply purchased a bird on behalf of the poor, and while our souls may not be any lighter or cleaner, it was still a very interesting way to open the Day of Atonement.
4 comments:
Very cool that you were able to attend. I didn't know about that tradition. What happens to the evil energy once the chicken absorbs it? Does it get destroyed when the bird gets cooked?
Also, a somewhat less spiritual question: did any of the chickens "leak" onto the heads of the attendees? That would probably be my top concern going into a situation like that.
My coworker says it's probably the act of giving away the chicken that turns it from bad energy to good energy. I like that idea. Let us know which one of us is right.
I don't think this is like King's "Thinner", in that the one who eats the chicken has a nameless evil passed on to them. I don't recall reading in the Bible that sins are edible. While your coworker's idea is really nice, I think the riddance of the sins is symbolic and the donation of the bird practical. Does this answer your question, or is it just post-fast rambling? Was there even a question?
my experiences in the bucharim market and machane yehuda market was somewhat different ... far from humane:
http://niralon.wordpress.com/2007/09/18/send-the-sinful-chicken-to-hell-take-ii/
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